


Inheritance of Dysfunctionality

by Merfilly



Category: DC Universe (Novels)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Relationships, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-13
Updated: 2014-03-13
Packaged: 2018-01-15 13:28:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1306576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of Oliver sleeping with Dick (and Roy finding out), things get hella more complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inheritance of Dysfunctionality

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coldfiredragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldfiredragon/gifts).



> First, this story makes a lot more sense if you read _Inheritance_ by Devin Grayson, the novel that inspired it.
> 
> Second, ColdFireDragon and Ilyena_Sylph BOTH drew me into their own takes on the book. This 'verse spawned off ColdFireDragon's version.
> 
> Third, this may be one of the most dysfunctional to functional co-parenting situations I've ever written.
> 
> Originally posted way back during '06 and '07, if I remember correctly, in serial format.

Roy did not want to answer the door. He really did not want to move at all. He could only be thankful that Jesse had come by and taken Lian for a trip out to the JSA museum. With his entire soul wrapped in misery, he just wanted the world to ignore him, so he could fall into the yawning black hole.

That plan was rudely derailed as the door latch turned, with the audible jangle of keys. Roy's brow furrowed in anger, as he imagined who was on the other side of the opening door. It had to be 'him', the conspirator in this plan to tear his heart out and feed it to the wolves. Roy got so far as opening his mouth to tell Dick to get the hell out, before the shortest blonde he had ever been lucky enough to call friend stepped into view, carrying a bag of gifts.

"Oh! Sorry, Roy; when no one answered, I decided to let myself in." Dinah's smile was tense, and she would not meet his eyes immediately. Perhaps it was the aching in his soul, or the fact that he knew the pattern, but he immediately rose and went to her, taking the gifts. "Those are for Lian." He noted she was wearing very chic civilian clothing again, and had to hunt to find the superhero accessory this time. He would have been amused most other days, as he found it was a Justice League charm bracelet.

"And what has you burning up your charge cards again, Di?" His voice was concerned, but still stretched too thin from his own heartache. She looked up into his face, saw the pinched stress around his eyes, and shook her head.

"No, honey; what's wrong with you?" She pushed all signs of her own upset away as she reached up to touch his cheek. When he did not respond, only sighing and leaning into the hand against his stubble, she knew.

"What has he done to you this time, Roy?" The Outsider did not have to ask whom she meant.

"Same thing he did to you, Di," he mumbled. Her little sound of dismay went a long way toward opening him up to talk about it.

"That no-good sonova…" she began, stepping close and making Roy put down the gifts. She hugged him tight, resting her head on his chest. "I truly wish I could tell you not to let it bother you, that he did not mean anything by it…but that's the point. He doesn't realize what he does!" She gently tugged him to the couch, to get him to rest his head on her lap as they talked.

"He might not realize, but…" Roy hesitated, having almost said just whom Ollie had seduced from him. Dinah was too sharp, and she looked down at his face while caressing his hair.

"Roy, have we ever kept secrets from one another? In all the years since we finally met as more than 'the bitch he sleeps with' and 'the brat he takes care of'?" Her tone was light as she used the epithets that Roy had once used in a rant that Dinah had overheard during his days of trying to come clean. Roy even had to smile to hear his angry words, but it was a sad one.

"You tell me why you went shopping first." He knew her well, knew that shopping usually masked an emotive state that was close to self-destruction. She chewed on her lip, and he found it as appealing as he generally found most things about her. Ever since she had helped him with the drugs, stepped up to the plate and really tried to make herself available as a support to him, he had cared for her. She had done the same for Lian, stepping in as a favorite aunt, to the point Cheshire had tried to kill her out of jealousy.

"I want something I can never have; I want to be with the man I love, and to know it will all work out," she said. "But since the thing with Joanna Pierce…I know I have no reason to hope for it." She kept stroking his hair, her eyes growing darkly blue with her sadness. He sighed softly.

"What did he do to you this time?" Roy asked.

"It was my birthday." She gave a weak chuckle. "I had hoped…since we always celebrated them, maybe he'd get nostalgic…pay me a visit."

"Di," Roy whispered, putting the dates into place. "He was too busy getting his action elsewhere," the Outsider told her, trying not to be too callous sounding, even as she nodded sadly.

"Let me guess, with whoever it is that is breaking your heart now?" she asked him, leaning down to make better eye contact. 

"Dick." He saw her eyes widen half a second, before she closed them in empathy with him.

"I never would have thought…"

"Yeah, I know, all my womanizing," Roy half joked, but Dinah's eyes opened and he saw the amazing tenderness there for him.

"No, hon. I never thought Ollie could be that big an ass. How can he be so blind to how you feel for Dick?" Now, Roy was stunned almost speechless.

"You…you..."

"Yes, Roy. I knew a long time ago. I thought Ollie did too. Connor does, and so does Mia. Even Lian realizes there is a very special connection between you and her favorite uncle." Dinah leaned far enough down to brush her lips across his forehead.

"Why would Dick…"

Dinah shrugged, before deciding that leaning over was too uncomfortable. She shifted from under his head and made him scoot to the back of the couch, so she could lay next to him, a position he readily accepted. He was still hurting, but being able to tell someone, especially this someone, was a small relief valve.

"Oliver can be a very charming man, who makes the concept of sex seem like breathing," Dinah told Roy, as he started playing with her hair. "I know, not an image you want, especially now, but I want you to try, very hard, to forgive Dick for this. Place the blame all you want on Ollie, but Dick may have been in a very unguarded moment." She faced him on the broad couch, bringing her hand up to sweep his hair back from his eyes. 

"I wish I could make him hurt, the way he hurts all of us," Roy said, his eyes sullen again with the pain of what Ollie had done. 

"Oh baby," Dinah said tenderly, moving forward to kiss him on the cheek. It was meant to be a quick peck, as she was wont to give him in passing, but he shifted just then, and their lips wound up meeting. The caring, gentle woman lying so close to him turned the peck into a longer, more meaningful kiss, as he reached out in one of the few ways he knew. 

Roy slipped his arms fully around Dinah when he realized that his instinctive reaction to her kiss had not pushed her away. She did break the kiss, her eyes searching his, her face unreadable to him. His eyes were lit with both the pain of his discovery and a need to forget it with someone he did love, someone who loved him in turn. Dinah could not turn away from that need, and she did not truly want to be alone right now anyway. Despite all Ollie had done to her over the years, she silently asked his forgiveness as she leaned back in and claimed Roy's lips again, this time letting him control it, letting him choose the pace and fulfillment. 

The redhead could not think past the moment, the feeling of having a rapport with someone who cared. He tasted her mouth, exploring it with his tongue as his body began to burn. In the feelings of desire, there could be forgetting, at least for a time, and this partner was more than willing, perhaps seeking to forget for herself now. Neither cared where the clothes fell as they helped each other remove them, never separating for long on the couch. Dinah gave herself to him fully, knowing that two wrongs did not make a right, but hoping to ease the pain she could not stand to see in Roy's eyes. The Outsider was able to forget the sound, the images of Ollie and Dick, at least for a small time as the delights of a tiny blonde woman blotted them out.

* * *

Dinah feel across Barbara's couch, her body and mind both wrung out from the emotional weekend of spending her birthday alone, and helping Roy through his crisis. The redhead looked at her with an arched eyebrow, over one shoulder from her control board. Their new Metropolis quarters were spacious and so techno-new that Oracle was as much a decoration as a part of the apartment, it seemed to Dinah.

"Care to explain why you chose this weekend to take off?" Barbara asked coolly. "Going completely offline, I might add? And coming back looking the worse for wear without actually being bruised?" Her tone was a little hurt, and made Dinah sigh.

"I just had hopes…." Dinah felt like a fool even as she started to confess, but Barbara sighed too, shaking her head. 

"You should have stayed here, with us. Instead of opening yourself to his brand of hurt." The redhead turned her board to monitoring, then rolled over to the blonde. "You went away, somewhere he 'should' have known about, in hopes he'd come spend your birthday with you."

"Yeah." Dinah sat up, so that she was directly facing her friend, leaning over to take her hands. "I'm an idiot. I even knew he was still seeing the Manitou woman, but…I don't know. I guess I hoped for once I could be the other woman, and maybe that would be what it took to make it work for us."

"Dinah, you and he are as messed up a pair as Batman and Catwoman. Maybe even me and Dick." Barbara squeezed her hands. "I'll make you a promise if you make me one. Next major holiday or anniversary or birthday…we spend it together, and don't take no for an answer." She accepted the warm hug from her friend as the blonde smiled sadly.

"Okay." When she leaned back, her eyes were still sad, and Barbara cocked her head to one side.

"Something else wrong?" Barbara asked her. Before Dinah could answer, a cell phone started playing 'Little Bird', and she had to answer it. 

"Hello?" Dinah's face turned hard. "Damn it, Oliver, I knew I should have checked caller ID. No, I don't want to talk to you." She stood from the couch, going to her bedroom, and letting Barbara go back to work, but the redhead kept her ear on Dinah. The last thing she needed was for her prime operative to be pushed into an emotional tailspin. "So who called you to let you know it was?" Her pause was full of mmm-hmm's this time. "No, Oliver…yes, I AM using your given name. I am upset with you! Not because of my birthday, you twit!"

Barbara had to hide a snicker at the way Dinah's voice was growing more hostile by the moment. She then flinched as Dinah gave one last growl of frustration and hung her phone up, launching it against the wall. It bounced; Barbara had learned after the first three to make them impact resistant. Just for curiosity's sake, she hit 'known location' and typed in Green Arrow's name. When it came up as being in Metropolis, she sighed and looked at her partner.

"He's in town."

"I don't want to see him." 

"He will figure out how to track you down, unless you ask Superman to make him leave."

"That would just make him try harder," Dinah sighed, relenting. She retrieved her phone and hit call back. "What hotel are you in?" She sighed. "Sulk, then, Ollie. I know you're in town, and I know you don't keep digs in Superman's town." She tapped her foot in annoyance. "Alright, I'll be there in an hour or so." She hung up, then went to change, muttering about lack-witted, simpleton males who could not see a fire burning in their own front yard. Barbara's curiosity was up to a fever pitch, but she had no wish to catch any of Dinah's lashing out right now.

* * *

The knocking on the door was no calmer, Ollie noted. He really did not understand why Dinah had such a bee in her bonnet this time. They were not dating. They had not been dating for much of the time he had been back. She even knew about his affair with Dawn Manitou, and had pretty much told him they would not be dating again. Still, he also knew she had not been involved with anyone since they broke up, which, for Dinah, was an awful long dry spell.

He opened the door, and used it as a slight shield between them until he could be sure she was not already swinging a punch his way. His eyes noted she was in her jeans and Supergirl shirt, which meant feisty mood to Ollie. He also saw she was not smiling, with anger being her overwhelming emotion on her face.

"How dare you?! Why did you have to go and hurt Roy again?!" she demanded, before he could greet her or close the door. She stormed past him, letting him have a moment to shut the door and rack his brain.

"Now wait a minute, Dinah; I just spent time with the boy," he began, but she was scowling in such a fierce way he paused. He thought long and hard about the whole incident, the hunt for Slade, and Roy.

"How in God's name, Oliver Queen, did you not KNOW that what you did would hurt him in the worst way you could, now that he is all grown up?" Dinah had gone from shouting to using her quiet voice, and that told Ollie volumes. Whatever he had done to slight Roy had serious repercussions.

"I don't know what it is, so how can I start to explain my side?" he asked her in exasperation.

"You slept with Dick Grayson; that is what you did," Dinah pointed out, and Ollie felt the blood drain from his face. He was not sure he wanted to know how that indiscretion had already seeped to Dinah, who, until recently, had been welcome enough by Batman to work in his own city, openly. 

"Why should that matter to Roy?" Ollie asked, and instantly knew it was the wrong question to put to his volatile ex-lover. He watched her clench her small fists, then shake her head in an effort not to hit him.

"Let me put it in terms that are simple for you to understand. You trampled all over his heart as surely as if someone else had been the one screwing Hal Jordan all those years ago!" Now her rage, Roy's hurt, and his idiocy were plain as day, even to him.

"You have to be kidding; the boy's a lady's man, like…"

"Just like the man who is supposed to be his father figure! The man that calls him son when it is convenient, and forgets his responsibilities just as quickly!" Dinah's blue eyes were snapping with her irritation. "How in hell could you have not known, Oliver? It's not a secret that Dick and Roy are tighter than any other two Titans, except maybe Superboy and Robin. And it was plain as day to me, to Connor, to Mia, even to Lian!" 

"My boy…"

Dinah held her hand up, cutting him off. "One, he is a man now. Two, don't claim him until you claim responsibility for all the crap he has taken from you. Three, you've lost him, unless you can figure out how to make amends."

"I've tried to make amends for the past," Ollie snapped, and immediately regretted it. The worst thing to do when Dinah was in an angry mood was to get angry back. She moved into his space, and he fell into a defense, none too keen on being punched by her.

"And you pushed him so far this time that if he did not have Lian, if I had not reached out to him, we all might have lost him again!" Her voice was so tightly controlled he could almost hear the unique pitch of her Cry in it. "He wanted to hurt you, has for some time now, for all you've done, but this is the worst! I was not willing to lose him, as you seem to be, being such an idiot and STILL not paying attention to him!" 

Ollie's eyes narrowed as he looked her over again, noting the slightest hint of a bruise just beneath the collar of her tee shirt, the imprint bruises where someone had held her wrists tightly. He had known Dinah a very long time, and he remembered all the times he had found comfort in her arms.

"You…you…" He could not say it.

"Yes, Ollie, I did. I reached out to him in the only way I could, to ease his pain from what he witnessed." She stepped away from him. "He is twice the man you are, Ollie; he knows how not to hurt his loved ones, unless it really needs doing. And you needed this slap in the face worse than any blow I ever gave for your infidelities." She turned toward the door. 

"Dinah, please…"

"No. Clean it up yourself. I've helped him, but I won't help you anymore." She left then, never even looking back.

* * *

Barbara slowly rolled to the door of the bathroom, concern for her partner overriding her sense of privacy. She stopped as she saw the blonde kneeling next to the toilet, wiping her mouth with a washcloth.

"Dinah?" Barbara asked. "You alright?"

"No." The absolute misery of the word struck the redhead hard. She did not like the defeated slump of her friend's shoulders in the least.

"Want to talk? Something was bothering you last night, to get you to stay here." Barbara had not minded Dinah's company, but it was strange, and seeing her sick now was not helping.

"Remember I'm mad at Ollie, that I …. Oh god, Barbara, I am so screwed." Dinah sat back on the floor of the bathroom, pressing the cold cloth to her mouth.

"This is about you sleeping with Roy?" Barbara still had not gotten the full story there, and she hated an unsolved mystery.

"Yeah." Dinah looked up at the woman she considered her best friend, the only woman she had ever really stayed close to.

"Tell me, Dinah, so I can help." Barbara rolled into the bathroom, close enough to lean forward and gently take Dinah's chin in her thumb and finger. "No problem too big." 

"I think I'm pregnant." Dinah's voice would have been lost if Barbara wasn't holding her chin and looking at her. "And Roy's the only partner I've had in a long time." Tears came to the corners of her eyes at the look of surprise on her friend's face.

"You weren't protected?" Barbara sighed as Dinah shook her head.

"All those years, I never needed to, because…" She laid a hand over her stomach, remembering that utter helplessness, the pain of losing her ability to have children at the hands of a psychopath. 

"But surely when Ollie and you…" Barbara began.

"No. He and I…if I had by him…" She did not have to finish; Barbara imagined if she had lost Dick, and then gotten him back the way Dinah had gotten Ollie. The need to bear a child would have been there, even if they had not actively tried.

"Okay, so you need to go to Leslie." Barbara was planning. "And you need to spill all the details you've been holding back, because that is probably what is choking you up with guilt, nearly as much as the awkward situation."

"You really don't want the details," Dinah told her, earning a quizzical look.

"Try me. I mean Dick's told me…." At the immediate flush on Dinah's cheeks, Barbara had to pull her hand back to her mouth and gasp. "Ollie, Dick?" Dinah merely nodded sadly. Barbara did the math. She had already known for years that she shared Dick's affections widely, but the only serious rival she had was Roy. 

"I didn't want to tell you," Dinah said softly.

"Oh, I appreciate that, Dinah." Barbara got a grim look. "I'm planning his death as we speak."

* * *

A trip to see Leslie, discreetly, confirmed the suspicion of pregnancy, and caused Dinah to break down in fresh tears on Barbara's shoulder. The redhead patted her friend's back consolingly, and got them home somehow without much break in contact. Dinah seemed to need touch right now, to keep herself sane, as she tucked her legs underneath her and quieted down.

Barbara contemplated the matter the whole way back to their home. She wanted to get the full details on the affair that had led to this, despite the twisting ache in her chest that Dick had probably gotten in over his head again with a charismatic man. She knew she had little right to butt in on his private life, but she did care about him and he seemed willing to talk to her most of the time. 

The other thing she needed to know, was what Dinah wanted to do. Privately, Barbara thought this was one case of really, really bad karma to inflict on a child, but she knew without doubt that Dinah would not choose Stephanie's option. So that meant helping Dinah decide on everything about when to tell the father (and her former paramour) to what she wanted to do about being a hero on active duty.

"Babs," Dinah said softly, just as they pulled around to the parking garage.

"Yes, Dinah?" Barbara concentrated on her partner, not showing her thoughts n her face.

"I don't want to tell him. Or Ollie." Dinah was very serious. The two stared at one another across the van's interior. "If I have to go to ground here in Gotham, fine. But I want you to help me run interference."

"You can't avoid them forever," Barbara warned. Dinah's stubborn look defied her. "Roy has a right to know he has a child. Even Cheshire knew that much." Dinah's face fell, as she looked down at her hands.

"Can't it wait 'til the baby comes? You know, to be sure…not get hopes up or start the stress now?" When Barbara reached over and took her hand, Dinah looked back at her and squeezed the hand as if it were a lifeline. Barbara slowly shook her head.

"Dinah, it can't be that way. Then you would be no better than Cheshire…or Connor's mom…or Cissie's, if you were right about her. Not to mention Shado." The redhead smiled. "C'mon; let's go upstairs. I think we need to talk out all the options. Including when to get Roy here, and how best to handle the news on all other fronts." The two women got out of the van and made their way up, Dinah dragging her feet reluctantly, until they got out of the elevator. She then made a small noise of surprise, because sitting in the atrium of Barbara's place was Dick Grayson, one of Bludhaven's finest.

* * *

Dick merely observed the two women as they all went inside, because Babs was pointedly ignoring his civilian presence. He noted how miserable Dinah looked, and how stern Babs got with her, making her go order lunch for the three of them. That at least soothed his ego; if Babs was going to feed him, she wasn't too mad at him. When the blonde disappeared deeper into the living area with the handheld, Babs finally looked at her former boyfriend with a look that crossed between vexation and resolve.

"Have you talked to Roy lately?" Her question immediately set Dick on guard. Any conversation about a girl friend was immediately hostile territory, but to bring Roy up…in the wake of certain revelations, made Dick nearly as tense. Babs read the signs instantly; she could always read him like a book. "And it did not go well." Her voice was actually regretful. "Life certainly is interesting with you around, Former Boy Wonder."

"So what's up with Roy, and why the third degree, Babs?" he asked wearily. He really had only come here as a place of refuge; if he had wanted the drama, he could have gone to the cave.

"I can answer that," Dinah said softly. He turned to see her, finding it absolutely amazing that a woman like her would continually go back to… No, Dick was not going to think about the man again. He still had too much of Roy's raw pain and anger filtering through his system to go there again. "I made a mistake, concerning Roy. And now I have to find some way to make it right."

"Dinah, he thinks the world of you. I've known that for years." Dick had to wonder how things would have turned out if Dinah had been the one officially raising Roy all along, to be honest. 

"I need to talk to him, Dick. About something we did because of …" She paused, not wanting to out and out say what had happened. The apprentice of the World's Greatest Detective actually stumbled back as he caught the issue she was tiptoeing around.

"That…you know?" Her sad nod confirmed it. "Oh Dinah, I'm…" Her small hand rose, cutting him off.

"I know where to place the blame in this, Dick. But I need you to help me. I don't want to call Roy…what needs to be said, should be said in person. Will you be my messenger? To get him to meet me?" The man's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Sure, Dinah, but I'm sure there's nothing you could say to him that would not be heard out in person or on the phone." Dick could not see why there was such an elaborate dance going on.

"You need to be there," Babs said, reminding him she was still there. "Roy's going to need support." She rolled close to Dinah, looking up at her. "I suggest a mixed couples meeting, privately, so neither of you are without support, Dinah."

"Is it Ollie? Did something happen?" Dick asked, not sure of what he was seeing as Dinah rested her hand lightly on Barbara's shoulder.

"No. It's me…I'm pregnant, and it's Roy's." To that from Dinah, Dick had no rejoinder.

* * *

Once Dinah had helped Dick to the couch, having caught his arm mid wobble of the knees, the Former Boy Wonder started thinking hard. He and Roy were barely keeping things professional. They had had several confrontations at the Outsider headquarters, ones that left the team wondering about their sanity.

"Dinah, he's not going to just accept my word to meet up." Dick rubbed the back of his head as Barbara slid onto the couch, next to Dinah. The blonde took a long, deep breath, slowly releasing it as she found a comfort in knowing Barbara was not just abandoning her to her stupidity.

"I need help dealing with this, Dick. You don't know me from Eve, I realize. We've always just been the vague people in the lives of our friends to one another. But I know Roy. I know him like…" She winced, backing off from the standard 'like a brother'. "I know him like I know Ollie. He's been there for me, and me for him through a lot of bad stuff. And since I am the bad stuff this time, that means he needs you instead. You're the only real support he's got with Donna gone, and me having done this to him."

"Stop blaming yourself, Dinah," Barbara said sharply. "It took both of you, and the only bad thing is neither of you thought to protect," she rationalized, her glare fierce until Dinah took her hand, smiling contritely. Dick again felt he was seeing the evolution of a friendship toward something more, but that couldn't be, because Dinah's rep was firmly fixed….

And it hit him very hard, all that Roy had said. It began to make perfect sense to him that Roy had loved him all those years, despite the women they both went through. Love, like what he was beginning to sense growing between the former Batgirl and her operative, was an emotion that struck without regard to age, gender, or any other label society wanted to define people by. On the heels of that thought came the fully honest follow through to Roy's emotions. Dick had loved him just as long, and just never really accepted that it was more than a brotherly camaraderie love.

"I'll get him to meet with you." Dick smiled rakishly at the two women, realizing that neither of them were aware yet of what he saw plain as day. "I've got some things to talk to him about anyway, and after hearing your news…which is happy, Dinah…. he'll probably be more receptive to me."

"You think my news is happy?" Dinah turned little girl eyes toward the younger man. "I've gone and broken any semblance of family rapport the Arrow Clan ever had by doing this. Ollie and Roy are still not talking, and Ollie is damn near insane over it! When he finds out…" She took a breath again, trying to calm herself as waves of nausea came with her emotional upset.

Dick leaned over, taking her free hand and smiling. "You made a child with a man you love…not that way, I know. This child will be as much an Arrow as Roy, and Ollie…" He gritted his teeth; he still could not fully muddle through the events of that night without being confused. "Oliver Queen has a lot of faults. I've heard them all my life from Batman, from Roy, and more lately, from Babs, via listening to you." He released her hand to point at her stomach. "But one thing is a universal law. No matter what he does to mess things up, he loves only one woman in this whole world. And a child from that woman, one who is kin to him through his first son, is going to be the apple of his eyes in the long run."

"He's right," Babs said, swallowing against a knot of emotion. It struck her forcibly that Dick could be so perspective for other people, but not for them. It also caused her to feel odd, to know that Ollie did love her partner, that her partner was bound in so many ways to a man that had hurt her so often. "Ollie's going to be shocked, both that you slept with Roy and at the notion of a kid."

"He knows I slept with Roy. That day in Metropolis, when I went to see him…I let him know then, to hurt him for what he did." 

"No wonder you were so eager for us to come back to Gotham for a while," Barbara laughed gently. Dinah started giggling, and Dick felt the tension around her dissipate. 

"I figured he'd start a fight with Supes and did not want to explain to the Big 'S' why Ollie was mad," Dinah managed, between giggles.

"Not an enviable place to be, I'd say." Dick shook his head as their lunch arrived. "You girls sit still and I'll get that." He agilely ducked two pillows from the so-called girls for the insult. He had a feeling this could all work out in the end, and tried hard not to take pleasure in Dinah's revenge shot at Ollie.

* * *

Roy growled in frustration, standing in the lobby of a Metropolis building and counting the reasons he should not be here right now. Just because no one had heard from Dick in a week, just because Grace threatened to cut it off, just because….he sighed. He was here because in the end, it was Dick, and he had to know Dick was okay. 

He pressed the intercom one more time, knowing that if Alfred said this was where Dick had gone to ground at, this had to be where Dick was. The Brit was never wrong about those under his care, especially if he was concerned enough to volunteer where Roy should look.

A third press of the intercom and then Dick was just suddenly there, looking a bit winded, and reaching out to touch his shoulder. Roy could not help it as he flinched away, visions of Ollie and Dick once more right in his eyes. Dick's look of blatant hurt caused him to shift, taking an aggressive posture. 

"Look, jerkface, why the hell haven't you been in touch with the guys?!" Roy brought all of his anger to the forefront rather than focus on Dick as he was right now. The man he had grown up being in love with was wearing a pair of cut off sweats and a sleeveless tee, looking every bit the godling so many assumed Nightwing to be. 

Dick set his jaw, his eyes flashing for an instant before he seemed to shrink in on himself and hold his hands out for peace. "Come upstairs, Roy, so we don't have to argue in front of the world."

"Fine." Roy moved to follow the other man, fighting the urge to watch the grace, the raw beauty of the way Dick always moved. Dick took him to the elevator, used a pass key and they were soon coming out on one of the uppermost floors of one of Metropolis's richest buildings. Roy absolutely loathed when Dick flaunted money, despite having no trouble with Garth for doing it. He had never investigated that particular hang up, but he noted it now with his nerves on edge. 

"You remember Barbara?" Dick asked, breaking his reverie. "Jim Gordon's daughter?" The voice was dispassionate, as if he were mentioning a complete stranger.

"The…yeah. You dated her." Roy tried to keep his bitter tone in check, and failed miserably.

"That's not important now, Roy. She is still my friend, but I've been staying here, to do some thinking and help them out."

"Them?" Roy managed just before the elevator opened into a spacious studio of sorts. There it looked like the red head next to a wheel chair was trying to assemble a porta-crib.

"Dick wouldn't let me answer the buzzer," the red head said, twisting around to flash a smile at him. "Been a long time, Feather Head," she added as he placed the name, the injury, and that gorgeous smile with her brassiness. 

"Yeah, it has been," Roy managed before shooting Dick a look for not ever telling him that the mysterious Barbara Gordon was none other than the same Batgirl they had teamed with on occasion.

"Well, come in, find a spot to sit. Dick, be useful and pretend you're Alfred," she ordered.

"You're so going to get it if you don't knock it off, Mistress of your Domain," Dick teased right back, going to the kitchen. Roy watched this with growing irritation, but he did sit. This was one time his temper was losing to his curiosity, as Dick was most assuredly up to something.

"Hey, Barbara, do you think green or yellow…." The voice of one of Roy's rocks of sanity preceded her breezing into the room, dressed in a blue sundress with her hair free and loose around her shoulders. He turned his attention fully toward her, and saw how pale she turned with shock at seeing him there in the apartment. His first instinct was to go hit Dick, his mind jumping to conclusions about pretty women and his friend.

Then he saw her holding up two swaths of a nursery print, and he started to tremble.

* * *

Dinah looked from Roy down to her hands, holding the swaths. She then took a very deep breath and looked to Barbara for support, who nodded silently. Dick had returned, and was pressing a beer into Roy's hand.

"Hey, man, why don't you and Dinah go talk?" Dick suggested in the tones of both a friend and a leader. Roy mechanically closed his hand on the drink before walking over to the small woman. She bit her lower lip, casting a small glare in Dick's direction, before dropping both swaths to step into Roy's space. He automatically wrapped his arms around her, and gently walked her back into the room she had come from. 

His cursory glance turned to one of full inspection, as he saw they were in the middle of making a nursery. It caught his eye that everything seemed to be set up to allow Barbara to easily handle any baby duties that might arise.

"So, you're pregnant," Roy said, wincing at the obvious statement. He slipped down to the twin bed set up in one corner, guiding her to sit with him. He took a swig of his beer, noting it was his particular favorite, and realized Dick had set him up. "It's mine, too. That's why Dick dropped out of sight, to make me come looking," he murmured, taking her hand in his free one.

"He just said he'd handle getting you to come here," she told him. "I had no idea when or what he planned to do; I thought he was trying to give me time to get used to the idea." She lifted her chin, trying to project that security and strength she had always tried to give him. He shook his head, smiling sadly at her.

"Don't, Dinah. You don't have to be strong for me this time. I need to be strong for you," he said with a gentle tone. "Looks like you have a big fan club forming, Di." He grinned at her sniffling smile, seeing the tears start in her eyes. "Hey, no crying. I'm going to be here, do whatever you need done for this…our kid. I mean you've been like a mom to Lian all this time. You're a natural for it."

"I'm going to try, Roy." She wiped at her eyes. "Babs asked me to move in, to help me out." She bit off the part about learning to help Oracle do her job, as that was Babs' secret. "My team is getting two new operatives to help Huntress and Lady Blackhawk, Oracle told me."

"And what about me? Lian?" he asked softly. "I did this to you." She immediately met his eyes, laying her hand on his cheek. 

"Roy, honey, it took two. And I wouldn't change what I did," Dinah whispered, moving close to lay her head on his shoulder. "You're a great dad, Roy, and I probably couldn't find a better man to share a child with." He held her tight then, feeling a swell of satisfaction in the pride she radiated toward him. "We'll work it all out, Roy. I'm not quitting this business." His low chuckle preceded a strong squeeze around her shoulders.

"Canaries don't quit, ever," he said. "We'll work it all out, and I think Lian will be quite happy. She's wanted a sibling for a while." 

"We will." She pulled away, and sat up with a small smile. "Well, don't hurt Dick too badly for tricking you here."

"I'm still not…" Roy could not continue, his visage growing dark, and Dinah took his hand to squeeze tightly.

"Baby, that man out there is head over heels in love with you, and right now you should probably thank Ollie for forcing him to realize it," Dinah said sternly. "And if you don't go out there, swallow your resentment for how it came about to thank your lucky stars, I'll, I'll….I'll sic Mia and Connor on you!"

Roy blinked at her repeatedly, focusing on her very firm glare at him. "Dick?"

Dinah nodded solemnly. "I can tell he's thinking over it all because he seems to think Babs and I are evolving that way too." She giggled. Even Roy chuckled at that thought, having had to endure the sounds of marathon Dinah visits to Ollie. 

"Dick, huh." Roy considered a long moment, but then the images of Ollie came back to him, making him grimace. The small woman patted his cheek.

"You go to Dick. Let him in, let him heal that wound," she murmured.

"And what about Ollie?" His voice was harsh and grating.

"One thing is, I must tell him," she said with a sigh. Roy bristled, not liking that idea in the least.

"Then I'm going with you," he growled, earning an eyeroll from her.

"You most certainly will not. You can't even think his name without getting hostile," Dinah said firmly. "He already knows what I…what we did. I'm not one to hide from a fight, but this won't be a fight. I'll handle it, and you won't have any more problems out of Oliver Queen, ever, probably." Her voice was grim, and Roy started to argue, but she had that look in her eyes. This time, discretion would be the better part of valor. He figured he could trail her without alerting even her hyper awareness to the meeting. "Go on, Roy. Go save Dick from Barbara's zeal to build the nursery in one week." Roy carefully laughed at her comment, though he was plotting what he would do to Ollie if Dinah got hurt in any way.

* * *

Ollie had never really cared for Metropolis. To be honest, he preferred the west coast entirely more than this place. Still, after a month of silence from Dinah, she had called and asked if it would be possible for him to meet her at a café she preferred. As Roy was still neither talking to him nor letting him have contact with Lian, Ollie hoped to kill two birds with one stone by making the effort to meet her, figuring she would be more likely to persuade Roy than either Connor or Mia had been.

The small woman was easy for him to pick out of a crowd on any given day, but today she seemed to have gone out of her way to pick a table in the clear, with no other patrons around her at this early hour. He moved right up, and opted to play his cards as if Joanna had not happened…as if she did not know about Dick. Most certainly as if he did not know what that had done to his elder boy and …. Ollie stopped himself; Dinah was a woman of passion, and he had obviously pushed Roy far too hard. With just the right amount of noise to announce himself, he leaned in and kissed her cheek before taking the seat opposite her.

"Hello Pretty Bird," he began, and then frowned at the red-rimmed eyes she was sporting. "Dinah? What's wrong?" 

"What? Oh nothing, Oliver." Her use of his proper name put him severely on guard, as he remembered that from more serious times. She wiped again at her eyes, taking a minute to compose herself, to go ahead and break the news to him.

* * *

Roy was glad Dick had come with him. As soon as Oracle had reported Dinah was upset, before Ollie even showed, he had wanted to rush down there, to tell her to go home so he could handle it. Dick had caught the impulse and swiftly reminded him that Dinah would proceed to scream him into the next week for such a stunt. Dick had then pointed out a headline that said Bruce Wayne was in town for a business conference, just before Ollie pulled up in the taxi.

"And?" Roy demanded testily, watching as Ollie walked over to the blonde, kissing her cheek like nothing had happened. Dick snapped his fingers under Roy's nose, then pointed, making Roy sight along the outstretched arm. There, on a low roof but still well shadowed against the bright of the city, was a pointy-eared shape, with another broad shouldered man, it seemed. "Why?"

"Oracle. She knows he takes a severe interest in Canary's life, because of her ties back to Gotham. Even though the Birds moved, and Oracle is not speaking to Batman, it doesn't stop her from talking to Robin." Dick shrugged. "Must be Wildcat with him."

"Oh man; let Ollie try something now." Roy actually gave a small bark of laughter at the image of the former champion prizefighter laying Ollie out. "This Oracle has the real hook-up, huh?"

"She's on top of things." Dick turned his attention back to the café table, where Ollie had suddenly stood, slamming his hands down on the table. He laid a hand on Roy's arm again. "No, we promised to hold back if we came," he cautioned, as Dinah stood up too. Their voices were not carrying, yet, so that was a good thing. 

"She's got a temper to match anything he can muster," Roy admitted as the spitfire of a woman walked closer to Ollie, sticking her finger in his chest as she made her points. He spared a glance to the other watching pair, to see the one who was likely Wildcat had moved forward too.

"Uh-oh," Dick said, just as the strains of Ollie's voice picked up enough to be heard over traffic.

"Oh hell," Roy said, clearly registering the shrill notes of Dinah's voice climbing in anger. "And she's got the Cry back….man…" He did not feel sorry for Ollie, but he did hope the café survived the wrath of the blonde woman.

Dick glanced across the way to see his mentor had shifted, no doubt preparing to follow Ollie and make him regret this incident. The shift from readiness to waiting again confused Dick, sure that it was all about to explode. He looked back down and saw why, as a blur of red, blue, and yellow came to hover just above the table. Ollie took on an even more belligerent pose, but Dinah turned away, refusing to fight in front of the being that was the pinnacle of all she hoped to ever be in terms of heroics.

Roy wondered who said what, but suddenly Superman dropped from hovering to actually scoop Dinah up. He then replayed it in his mind's eye and realized the blonde had almost fainted. 

"Damn," Dick growled. "She got too worked up," he said. He moved to use the grapple line to descend quickly with Roy, as Ollie broke his stupid posturing to move to the Kryptonian's side, trying to reach Dinah. Helena, who had been sitting nearby the entire time, unknown even to Dick, very neatly intercepted him. Ollie went to push past her, which was a severe mistake, apparently, in the book as written in Helena's world. The slender Italian packed a wallop of a punch, even if it could not compare to the beauty that Dinah might have landed for herself. Ollie reeled back and the brunette turned her back in full contempt, nodding for Superman to take Dinah home.

"You dated her too, right?" Roy mentioned.

"Slept with her," Dick corrected. "Much as you did." The pair on the other roof had vanished. "Come on; we need to get back to Barbara's place; he'd take her there."

"What about Ollie?" Roy asked, still wanting to do just what Helena had.

"My bet's on Wildcat and Batman finding him and 'escorting' him back to the airport."

`~`~`~`~`

Dinah was already settled in bed when Dick and Roy arrived at Barbara's apartment. Superman was still there, chatting amiably with Barbara. He paused and looked at the two young men in a polite fashion.

"Congratulations, Arsenal," he offered. "If you'll excuse me, I think I have given Br…Batman enough time to make it clear that Ollie's lost any chance he had to be around this child."

"Thank you," Barbara said. "I'll be sure to send her to the doctor you recommended."

"Good day, Miss Gordon." He used the window to leave; it struck Roy as odd that anyone would have windows that opened this high up.

"She's okay?" he asked immediately.

"Yes," Barbara said. "I got the report from Oracle. She just got too angry, too fast at what he said; her blood pressure jumped and then dipped very quickly."

"What in hell did the bastard say to her?" Roy demanded. Barbara looked at him, not sure how to put it.

"He called you a very unflattering name," Helena said as she came in. "And tried to push all the blame on you. Then he brought up your checkered past, and she lost it."

"I'll kill him." Roy was white-hot angry right now.

"You won't need to," Helena promised. "Wildcat has very different views on things than Oliver Queen, especially where his hellcat is concerned."

* * *

Oliver knew within seconds of calling Roy a half-bred, ignorant, drug-using bastard that he had stepped well over the safety line. Dinah went from jabbing his chest to make her point to a truly battle ready stance. Her voice was already hurting his ears, and he steeled himself to accept the punishment she was about to inflict. It would not be the first time he had felt it, but he was certain it would be the worst.

A stiff breeze and then the Big Boy Scout was there intervening, and his Pretty Bird was walking away from him. He had no idea if it was the arrival of Superman, or the fact that her stance reminded him of that snowy New Years when she had destroyed their lives by leaving him, but he pushed the point a little further. He called her something that in a million years he never would have thought to have slip from his lips, about the woman he worshiped, but her news, the implications, and his own guilt boiled up. She seemed to ignore him, as if nothing he said could possibly matter.

Then she fainted, or at least began to. Superman moved faster than she could fall, and caught her as Ollie tried to move toward her. He was unprepared for a face from his past, the beautifully dangerous Italian Huntress. He was in no mood to be stopped by anything, his attention fully on Dinah in Superman's arms.

That was why he never saw the fist, he would swear afterward. 

There was not much he could do once Superman flew off with Dinah but go back to the hotel, to sit on the phone and try to get the small woman to accept his call. He tried to move to the curb, only to realize it would be better to walk with as busy as the taxi queue was. He started striding angrily away from the café, his mind caught up in Dinah, Roy, and his own stupidity that had let his temper get away from him.

His jaw was already hurting from Huntress's blow, his pride wounded by the impossible family situation, and his soul ripped in half for having been so cruel in his thoughts and words to Dinah. 

"Hey Ollie, I told you not to ever hurt my little girl!" Wildcat was standing in front of him, arms corded up with muscles and rage. This blow Ollie did see, and tried to block, but the sheer power of it went through his defenses.

"Take it off the streets," came an ominous voice, as Ollie reached up to wipe blood away. 

"You're here too, Bats?!" Ollie snarled. "Fine; where's the nearest gym?!"

"Three, now." The tingle of transportation kicked in, and then all three were on the moon WatchTower. Ollie did not need further invitation or prodding; he strode angrily for the gym, and the few people in his path got out of the way swiftly. In his wake, both Wildcat and Batman trailed, one brooding and silent, the other muttering dire imprecations under his breath.

What followed was not one sided, nor was it pretty. Wildcat had the rage that was almost that of a father, for what Dinah was going through. He also had years upon years of experience fighting. Ollie, however, had the anger of how everything had been handled, his self-hate for what he had said and done. Batman stood back, and waited, as the two men beat each other bloody. 

He catalogued every blow thrown, every cheap shot taken, and gave a hateful grimace when it was Ollie still on one knee as Wildcat sprawled unconscious in the ring. Ollie's eyes met the grim-lensed stare that was batman under the cowl.

"You got something you want to add?" Ollie growled dangerously.

"Stay away from Dick; stay away from Dinah," Batman warned. "Next time, I join the fight instead of making sure it stays non-lethal," he said with just enough cold passion to imply he would not be disappointed if Oliver Queen were to die again.

"They're both adults; able to choose for themselves, or did you fail to notice your oh so precious boy grew up when he moved out of your shadow," Ollie spat back at him, blood flecking his beard and his lips. Batman was unaware he had moved until Ollie was flying back, unconscious at last, from the vicious punch the Dark Knight had thrown. Ollie landed in a satisfying heap before Batman got his one time teacher in brawling skills up and took him to medical. He did not even spare a backwards look for the son of a bitch that had started the entire mess that now encompassed both the Bat and Arrow Clans fully.

* * *

Dinah woke to find Ted sitting next to her bed, looking insufferably torn between proud of her and still angry over Ollie's treatment of her and her predicament. She slid up in the bed, picking at the covers like a little girl.

"Hey Uncle Ted, looks like you're going to be a uncle again," she teased, looking around to see she was definitely in her room at Barbara's apartment. She was wondering how the redhead was handling having so many people come through her privacy and how she was keeping her computer rooms hidden to protect her secret identity. 

"Wildcat, I don't want to know how this came about. Much as I like that boy of yours, it's still kinda creepy," Ted told her. "Doesn't mean I love you any less, or I'll treat this baby any different. It's a little piece of you, of yer ma and Larry."

"Thanks, Ted," she said, moving close to the edge of the bed, and letting him engulf her in his powerful arms. She then touched a couple of scrapes on his face, looking at a bruise near his eye. "You went after Oliver," she said disapprovingly. "Who tipped you off?"

"Batman. He helped." Ted's unrepentant grin made her giggle, even as she gaped inwardly at the idea of Batman taking up for her. It dawned on her that it had not been for her, but for her child, which would have claim on him through Nightwing. Everything was getting so complex as she looked at the ways their lives were intersecting with the hero community at large.

"So what did I miss while I napped?" she asked, content to stay in her room for now.

"That boy and his, umm, friend left to go home. He left a list of numbers for you, but said it was time to pick Lian up and tell her." Ted smiled at the mention of Roy's daughter; Dinah had made sure to introduce her to the boxer and watched him fall hard for her. "That red headed girl…Barbara, said I could stay the night, but I need to head back over to JSA 'quarters. Alan and Jay should know, and you know Joan's gonna go nuts," Ted told her.

"Yeah," she said, giggling at the man who was her closest family member.

"Well, you take good care of yourself, Hellcat. Don't let me catch you patrolling." He ruffled her hair, and stood up, helping her up.

"I'll behave. I've got a job behind closed doors lined up," she promised him. 

"Good girl." He walked out with her following him. He gave a wave toward Barbara in the kitchen area before Dinah saw him out. When the door closed, she gave an exaggerated sigh and joined her friend in the kitchen.

"You ratted me out," Dinah said softly. "You told people where I was meeting Oliver."

"Good thing I did, too." Barbara finished dividing up the take out. "You fainted, Dinah. Your blood pressure elevated high enough and then dropped fast enough to cause you to black out."

"Ollie would not have hurt me," Dinah insisted. "He just got hit off guard."

"Dinah…you're as blind about that man as I used to be about Dick." Barbara handed her a plate. "So I'm cutting to the chase in this little self-destructive trend you'll be on. If you want to go to him, you're making a mistake. Roy won't forgive you, and neither will I. If he comes to you, to patch things up, remember he's already cheated on you twice since coming back to life." The redhead accepted an Evian bottle. "And you don't need him. Dick and Roy are planning to share parenting duties, on Lian and Canary Junior." Barbara took a deep breath. "And you have me…along with the rest of the team," she said, trying to get it out in a rush.

Dinah blinked, knowing every word said was perfectly true, but hearing unspoken power behind the final part. "Babs?" She set her plate on the counter to move closer to her partner. "You've taken me in…even though I lived just down the hall, insisted the nursery be here. You've gone to a lot of extremes, even giving up part of your privacy for those who came to see me." Her voice and face were strained with worry. "Babs, is Dick right? Do you care for me?"

"Of course I care," Babs snapped irritably, but she relented, seeing the turmoil in her friend's eyes. "I want you to be safe, to be happy, and I would very much love to share the raising of this child with you." Barbara looked away, then had no choice as Dinah pulled her chin around.

"I couldn't ask for a better parent to help me out, I bet." Dinah smiled tenderly. "We're a mess of a family, but with four parents, this kid can't go wrong."

"Yeah about the family entanglements." Barbara smiled sheepishly. "Bruce Wayne sends his fondest wishes for his grandchild." 

"Dick told his father?! About him and Roy, and the baby?" Dinah giggled madly.

"Actually no, I believe he pieced it together," Barbara said slowly. "Comes with the territory of being the World's Greatest Detective." She had the pleasure of seeing Dinah completely speechless for the first time ever.

* * *

Dinah smiled tenderly at the dark hair of the baby girl in her arms. She then looked up at the father, shaking her head.

"We made it, Roy. She's here, she's ours, and she's going to hate us one day for her odd family." 

That brought a chuckle and a weary smile, before Roy nodded.

"Between you and Babs, me and Dick…yeah, she'll hate us." He ran a light hand over the soft hair. "So tiny."

"I'm glad you were here," Dinah murmured.

"So am I." He settled back in the chair at the bedside. "Should we name her Val, for the day?"

"As long as that is not short for Valerie," Dinah said with a giggle. "Valerie Harper's been done."

"Val."

"Best Valentine I ever got," Dinah said, closing her eyes, much as Roy was. 

"Me too."

"Avia Val Lance-Harper?"

"I like it."

* * *

Dinah heard the fussing, smiled that her family was there. Connor and Mia had come; they had wound up on the outs with Ollie following the infamous showdown in Metropolis. Though they still lived with Ollie, they patently refused to tell him how Dinah was doing, or go between him and Roy, insisting this was one mess Ollie needed to figure his own way out of.

Dinah's blue eyes were fixed on her tiny child, right now, though. Barbara had been there, with Roy, through the labor. The woman so many only knew as Oracle had finally gone home once the baby was back from the nursery, and Roy was half dozing in the chair as Connor and Mia and Dick came in. Not far behind them was Ted with a huge arrangement of Dinah's favorite flowers, and Lian at his side. The old boxer had been more than happy to get to know the fiery little girl over the course of Dinah's pregnancy.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to being a florist flowers?" Roy teased the boxer, opening his eyes.

"I can get away with it. They're for the baby." The powerfully built man squeezed Roy's shoulder, before moving on and letting Dick perch on the arm of that chair. "Hellcat? You doing okay?"

"Yes I am." She hugged him, one-armed, before shifting the girl to where Lian could see better. "Your sister, Lian."

Lian looked at the baby, all red and a little wrinkled and looking like a tiny old person more than the baby Cer had looked like the first time she saw him. She then wriggled her nose, because the hospital smelled funny, and so did the tiny old person Aunt Dinah was calling a sister.

"Aunt Dinah, you might want to give it back...it's not a real baby." Lian said it with honest concern for her family, especially Dinah, and it made everyone laugh softly, further confusing Lian.

"Sweetie, give her a few days, and she'll look more like a real baby," Dinah told her.

"You say so, Aunt Dinah..." She went and curled up in her Daddy's lap, smiling when Papa Dick reached down to pet her hair.

"What are you going to name her?" Mia asked, coming over and taking the baby when Dinah didn't protest.

"Roy and I kicked that one around a lot. And Dick and Babs added a few suggestions. The last name is going to be Lance-Harper." 

"She won," Roy said with a sleepy chuckle.

"And it's going to be Avia Val," Dinah said. "After all, two Dinahs is enough!"

That got a laugh out of them all again, before things settled to hear the fitful noises of a newborn being awakened by it.

* * *

Roy couldn't help the grin on his face as Dinah answered her door. The sight of her with paint smatters all over her smock and a smear of red paint along her forehead was too cute to resist. But the part that really got him, was the tiny blue handprint pressed to her right cheek.

"I am so glad to see you, Boy-o." She looked at the brunette behind him, and broadened her smile to see Lian riding the man's back. "Dick…Dart!" She moved to let everyone inside.

"Looks like Avia's been in the paints," Lian said, laughing at the bright colors on her aunt. "Can I go play with her?"

"She's in her room now…I was just going to shower when Barbara said you three had arrived," Dinah said, cheerfully bright, even though Roy could see the fatigue around her eyes.

Dick set Lian down, who took off like a shot. The seven year old was very fond of her half sister.

"We figured you and Babs needed a break," Dick began, as Roy hugged Dinah fiercely. "And since we're on downtime, while Vic rebuilds the stuff we lost this last fight against the H.I.V.E…"

Dinah sagged into Roy's arms at that. "You boys are okay with taking her?"

"Di, she's our kid. Lian loves her like crazy. You and Babs haven't had a vacation since she was born."

Dick nodded. He had understood the need to keep Avia securely hidden, and they had all come here time and again to see her, staying for nights at a time, but primarily, Dinah and Babs had been the full time parents.

"She's old enough to come stay with us at the Titans. They know Roy's got another daughter, and they'd help us."

Dinah looked skeptical, but just then, her lover rolled in, attracting their attention.

"Dinah, let the boys take our daughter home…and I won't touch the computer all weekend," Barbara promised.

That bribe was too much to resist, and Dinah was soon packing up her toddler to go home with the other half of the family. 

Roy wondered just how he would bribe Oracle into doing this more often, as he got to watch Dick carry their younger child back to the waiting jet.

* * *

Barbara eyed the large package both men were bringing into her home with suspicion. Dick managed to look mostly innocent, but Roy could not help but break out a grin for her.

"She wanted a pony, a Great Dane, or drums," he said.

"You are installing the soundproofing!" Barbara told him, before kissing both their cheeks. "Dinah took her to get a new dress for the party, so you two get to help me with set up. Half the JSA and Titans are coming, you know."

"It's our baby, Babs," Dick said. "She's got one big family in those teams."


End file.
